Well, calm down, dear readers. There's no zombie apocalypse underway, and the above stories mostly have benign causes or are entirely unrelated -- and definitely not caused by any zombie-causing viruses or bacteria. And the CDC's zombie pages are all in fun and in the interest of informing the public about disaster preparedness. However, the current public interest in zombies makes this a great time to provide you with a wonderful list of the best zombie fiction on film and TV, or in books.

So read on for my list of the best zombie apocalypse fiction!

Dawn of the Dead [Blu-ray

Let's kick things off by counting down THE TEN BEST ZOMBIE MOVIES OF ALL TIME. I want to remind you, though, that this is my own list based on my own accounting of quality and preference and such, so it might not perfectly match your own personal list. I'll try to explain my reasoning briefly for each entry, but remember that just because I didn't mention a film as one of the ten greatest zombie movies doesn't mean I don't think it's a good film, and just because a film is ranked lower than another doesn't mean I'm saying there's something WRONG with the lower-ranked film. These are ALL great films, the best of the best.

6. Quarantine- A remake of the Spanish film [REC], creepy and hyper-realistic, and one of my favorites.

(For the top five, I'll give more explanation for my rankings.)

5. Night of the Living Dead - The one that started it all, simple and brilliant despite low production values (it was inspired by the great vampire novel I Am Legend, by the way). It was difficult not to rank this one higher, since it has a history and special status, but I tried to rank the films mostly on pure quality of story and filmmaking, but a #5 position is nothing to sneeze at.

4. 28 Days Later - Perhaps the most influential of the modern "rage-zombie" subgenre, it is brilliant and horrifying, and attempts a measure of realism in premise and execution that inspired later productions. Besides kicking off the popularity of "fast zombies," this movie probably more than any other helped to move zombie movies into the mainstream consciousness, due to overall filmmaking quality that exceeds that of most previous zombie productions, and the creation of a form of "zombie" that purists will insist are not "true zombies." But the "rage zombie" subgenre is undeniably essentially part of the zombie film package, and it's ultimately pointless to nitpick, and this film is one of the best ever made.

3. Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Yes, I know it's blasphemy to some zombie fans, but I rank the remake ahead of the original, because it is scarier and more "realistic" (well, for a zombie movie), and from acting to effects to production values it is superior and really achieves a different level of terror by embracing the concept head-on. While I love the subtext about consumerism in the original, and while I appreciate the appeal of lower-budget production values in cult cinema, I honestly didn't like some of the slapstick elements as much as other fans did, and I think ultimately zombie fiction works best when the metaphorical representation is left more vague so that audiences can fill in that blank, which makes the fear and impact all the more resonant. The remake did that perfectly, and deserves praise for its accomplishments.

2. [REC]2 - One of the most original and creepy conceptions of zombies and their origins, this is a mixture of The Exorcist, Aliens, and 28 Days Later rolled into one. It's a sequel, and like the first film of this series it is "found footage" that maintains a level of hyper-realism superior to most other "found footage" horror movies, and making the claustrophobic environment truly terrifying. It's so good, only one other zombie movie could possibly top it...

1. [REC] - The original of the series, and the greatest zombie movie ever made. It goes back to the genre roots for a simple story involving a small group of people in a small setting as zombies multiply, except instead of the zombies being outside, these people are trapped in with the zombies. And it's all told from the perspective of a late-night news crew covering the story and locked in the building with rest of the victims. Great acting and dialogue, excellent use of the "news footage" context, and a climax that is one of the scariest I've seen in a horror movie all add up to make this the best of the best.